Why blaming EVMs for electoral loss is not only preposterous, but sinister
‘EVMs receiving Bluetooth and WiFi Signals’
‘BJP has EVMs in control; can they contest on ballot paper?’
‘BJP is resorting to Fascism; Hindu terrorism is on a roll’
Confused? Imagine a 100 m. race finals for the Olympics. Athletes of different nationalities are propped up, aiming for their tryst with glory. The crowd favorite Usain Bolt is also present, warming up for the ultimate race. This could be his last race as well. As soon as the officials announce the start of the race, the athletes come up to their race blocks, put themselves in position, and sprint off like bullets at the first shot. Denying any upset, Usain Bolt wins the last Olympic race of his life, breaking his own world record as well. However, as other athletes, including the other two medalists go up to congratulate him, the guy who finished last starts sulking. When officials try to console him, he cries, ‘I’ve been wronged. This race is not fair.’
Officials: – ‘But you came last!’
The Sulking Athlete: – ‘This fascist Jamaican has won the race by deceit, denying the poor oppressed masses their chance for the Olympic gold!’
Officials: – ‘But dude, he was way faster than you. He’s trained for years, he’s adept at it.’
The Sulking Athlete: – ‘No way. This fascist, capitalist bred athlete has everyone under control, from the starter, to the timekeeper, to the cameramen, to even the athletes, who intentionally lose to him.’
Doesn’t this tickle your funny bone, and makes you cringe at the loser? But do not mistake this for a mere figment of imagination; this sulking is a stark reality in India, especially in the genre of politics. Unable to find a tangible reason to attack the current Central Government, administrated by BJP led NDA alliance, the opposition is now resorting to trickery and absurd allegations, including that of EVMs being rigged. Beginning with the laughable allegations of the current Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal, following are some of their accusations, that invoke laughter and than actual concern:-
But the question remains: Are EVMs really manipulated? Do they receive Bluetooth and Wi Fi Signals? To begin with, the answer is a straight, unadulterated NO. Why so? It is because the EVMs are maintained by the autonomous body of ECI [Election Commission of India] in such a way that it makes manipulation close to impossible. EVMs may malfunction no doubt, but cannot be manipulated, and certainly not rigged like ballot papers. How? Here is the proof:-
In a ballot paper election, the vote is stamped on a paper, and then inserted in a ballot box, which is then sent to the concerned election authorities. However, since the ballot process is not computerized, there are strong risks of the same being manipulated, even at the lowest level of elections. No wonder why booth capturing, i.e. unauthorized capture/robbery of ballot boxes was once a norm in the Indian democracy.
In an initiative to prevent such crimes, and ensure transparency in elections, the Electronic Voting Machines were introduced in India in the late 80s, on an experimental basis. They were first used officially in November 1998, in 16 Assembly Constituencies of the following regions:-
1.) Madhya Pradesh
2.) Rajasthan
3.) Delhi NCR
EVMs were first used on a national level in the 1999 general elections, though in limited number of constituencies. However, it was because of the persistent efforts of Chief Election Commissioner James Michael Lyngdoh, that EVMs were used widely on a national level scale. It was also due to his efforts, alongside that of his mentor and his predecessor, T.N. Seshan, that Election Commission Of India stands aloof as an autonomous entity, incapable of being manipulated or provoked into corruption or sycophancy, something folks like Arvind Kejriwal and Mayawati are alleging people, after being rejected by the electorates.
How do EVMs work?
An EVM comprises of two units: –
1.) CU, i.e. Control Unit
2.) BU, i.e. Balloting Unit
The two units are connected by a 5-meter long cable. The B.U. facilitates voting via labeled buttons while C.U. controls the ballot units, stores the number of recorded votes and displays the results on 7 segment LED displays. The controller that is used in EVMs has its operating program etched permanently in silicon at the time of manufacturing by the manufacturer. No one (including the manufacturer) can change the program once the controller is manufactured. This means, that once programmed, no one can manipulate it, even with the best of the equipments, for the EVM, with the manufactured programming, now acts as a standalone unit.
EVMs are powered by an ordinary 6 volt alkaline battery manufactured by Bharat Electronics Limited, Bangalore and Electronics Corporation of India Limited, Hyderabad. This design enables the use of EVMs throughout the country without any interruptions, owing to the absence of adequate power supply in several parts of India.
An EVM at a stretch can record a maximum of 3840 votes and can cater to a maximum of 64 candidates. There is provision for 16 candidates in a single balloting unit and up to a maximum of 4 units can be connected in parallel. The conventional ballot paper/box method of polling is used if the number of candidates exceeds 64. It is not possible to vote more than once by pressing the button again and again. This is not all, the EVM that is allotted to a particular station, is done so after a random draw of lots, which ensures on a strict note, that no EVM can be PRE PROGRAMMED in the favor of one particular candidate. This has also been proved by ECI, in a recent press communiqué, describing the functioning of an EVM:-
As soon as a particular button on the balloting unit is pressed, the vote is recorded for that particular candidate and the machine gets locked. Yes, once you cast your vote on an EVM, it gets locked, free from any possible manipulation later. Even if one presses that button further or any other button, no FURTHER VOTE WILL BE RECORDED. This way the EVMs ensure the principle of “one person, one vote”. An average EVM, made in India, has a shelf life of approximately 15 years.
But if EVM is so foolproof, why are they so wildly reviled? Are they really tamper proof? If we talk in terms of EVM software, then without a doubt this is true that an EVM is tamper proof. The security provided to the standalone machine is provided right from the start by the manufacturer responsible for making EVMs. However, in terms of hardware, EVM is prone to malfunction, but anyone who thinks the main software in EVMs can be manipulated and receive Bluetooth and WiFi Signals, are idiots among the idiots.
Objections against the working of EVMs is not something new, even eminent lawmaker and firebrand nationalist Subramanian Swamy had raised these objections way back in 2011-12, alongside his controversial exposure of the infamous 2G Scandal. His actions, coupled by the ruling of the Delhi High Court, compelled the Election Commission of India to call for VVPATs [i.e. voter verified paper audit trail], which were officially introduced on a widespread scale in the 2017 Legislative Assembly Elections, held in 5 states, and will be completely inducted into the system by 2019.
Now for some facts. If opposition is alleging that BJP owes its victories to rigged EVMs, let me ask them a simple question: If BJP had the audacity to rig an EVM, shouldn’t it receive maximum votes, let’s say almost 900 out of 1000 votes? Shouldn’t they sweep almost every seat possible like Rajiv Gandhi did in 1984 general elections, despite supervising a barbaric massacre of the Sikh community post the assassination of Indira Gandhi? Why is it not so?
When the parties alleged of EVM malfunctioning, the Election Commission of India took the matter into their own hands and boldly challenged anybody, even a common man, to come and hack their EVM, under their ‘EVM Hackathon program’, conducted in the first week of May. Fun fact, none of the said parties actually turned up for the programme, alleging that the ECI refused to give them the required software and the real EVMs for carrying out the operation.
If my memory serves me right, the elections of Bengal and Bihar weren’t conducted on ballot paper, right? The very opposition had won convincingly with a thumping victory, be it Lalu Prasad Yadav, or Mamata Banerjee, or even Arvind Kejriwal. Do I even need to remind him of how many seats did he win in New Delhi Legislative Assembly elections, through these very elections? I need not go very far, Congress had won the Punjab elections of 2017, as well as emerged as the single largest party in Manipur and Goa, through these very EVMs. If the EVMs are rigged, weren’t these results rigged too? Do they consider the Indians to be that foolish?
The so called leader of the oppressed masses, Mayawati challenges that if BJP has the guts, they should cancel the results and conduct every election on ballot papers. In what world is she living, that she doesn’t know that the entire segment of elections that were conducted in Nagar Panchayat were contested almost entirely on BALLOT PAPERS? EVMs were used primarily in the city based municipal corporations and the town based municipal councils. Besides, if the EVMs were rigged, then how come Mayawati’s party BSP won 2 mayor seats, despite the trends showing BJP having an early lead? To cut the long story short, it’s just like Nico Rosberg calling for a substitution of the race cars with bullock carts or camels, just because he couldn’t defeat Lewis Hamilton / Sebastian Vettel in the F1 Championship.
Following is the structure of the results of the municipal elections for the corporations and Nagar Panchayats, as drafted by the State Election Commission: –
According to this list, BJP has these many seats:-
1.) 14 Municipal Corporation Mayors
2.) 596 Municipal Corporation Corporators
3.) 70 Municipal Council Chairmen
4.) 922 Muncipal Council Councillors
5.) 100 Nagar Panchayat Chairmen
6.) 664 Nagar Panchayat Members
If we start counting the vote share, the BJP has won a landslide victory in terms of Municipal Corporations. None of the so called opposition parties are even an inch close to BJP in competing terms. Even in Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats, the only ones who have given a tough competition to BJP, or even defeated them, were not at all affiliated to any political party, but Independents, who won the lion’s share in terms of Municipal Council and Nagar Panchayat membership.
So if websites like The Wire, Janta Ka Reporter and Scroll.in, suddenly point out the so called meager vote share of BJP in ballot paper based Nagar Panchayat elections, they’re conveniently hide the fact, that the opposition hasn’t scored any better either.
Unlike BJP, who has still got a respectable share of 17.53% and 22.83%, none of the opposition parties have even scored anywhere close to 10%, with the sole exception of Nagar Panchayat Chairmen elections. So if EVMs were rigged, how could BJP lag behind?
Further Reading:-
